Category Archives: construction

Timber Frames and Energy Efficiency

August 9, 2010

Well, it’s been hot this summer, some say record-breaking hot, but you couldn’t tell it by the energy usage for our timber frame home.   This timber frame, wrapped in energy efficient structural insulated panels, has met and exceeded our expectations.

Timber frames and SIPs are a great combination when it comes to a well insulated home.  Even with walls of windows, which are notoriously inefficient, and an electric dryer, we are not seeing the high power bills that might be expected.

Of course, we have all Energy Star rated appliances and fixtures, use fluorescent bulbs, and are manic about turning off lights when we aren’t in the room.  However, our 2 ton heat pump and fans are keeping our timber frame home cool and comfortable.

Last month we topped out at $74 and this month we went down to $72. We are pleased at the money we’ve saved…and at the energy we’ve saved.   Our home is 1700 square feet and we cook most days (heating up the house) and embraced daylighting and have more than our share of windows.  We do use our ceiling fans and we keep the house cool during the day just because it’s our “model” home.  I guess I can say our “model energy saving home”, can’t I?

All these years I’ve been encouraging people to consider using panels on their home and I am pleased.  I’d like to know how much energy is saved every year just in timber frames with insulated panel enclosures.  That would be a significant number, I’d think.  Sustainable homes are important to each of us.

So, I’ll sit here and not stress over the heat and high utility bills, and I might hope for cooler weather so we can open the windows and go back to our $30 power bills of the spring.

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Timber Frames – Solid and Strong

July 26, 2010

We often sit back and marvel at the beauty of our timber frame home, but it’s easy to forget that timber frames are solid and strong, carrying their loads with dignity for generations.  Wood is a very forgiving building material.  As in nature, it offers strength along with it’s flexibility.

We can look at buildings around the world, building built with wood and joinery, much as timber frames are built today and get an idea of the sustainability of timber frames.

The gingerbread houses in Haiti offer a look at how timber frames handled the devastating earthquake.  The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute found that only 10% of these homes suffered more than moderate damage, while many or  most of the other buildings suffered irreparable damage (13 of 15 government buildings collapsed).  Many of these gingerbread homes had little or no maintenance and still survived better than newer construction.

With better understanding of engineering, today’s timber frames are built to withstand the forces of nature and man.  What a great way to build and a secure way to live.

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Timber Frames and Flooring

July 14, 2010

Your timber frame home offers lots of opportunities to express your individuality.  As you design and build your new home, you’ll gain insights into the flexibility that timber frames offer.  Is your taste elegant?  Does it lean toward traditional or even rustic?  Your new home will be whatever you wish, just make selections carefully and design it to be the home of your dreams.

While many, if not most, timber frames feature wood flooring, the types and finishes available in wood floors are almost as varied as the styles of timber frame homes.  There is antique flooring, fine clear flooring, and everything in between.  You can choose laminates, hardwood, or even softer pine.

We decided we needed a durable hardwood that would withstand not only people, but dogs without looking worn.  So what better choice than to distress the floor before it went down and not dread that “first scratch”.   Pam and Neal had installed amazing hickory floors in their new timber frame and they guided us on the techniques used so we could enjoy a similar floor.

Starting with a utility (economy) grade hickory, we ended up with an amazing floor that looks as though it has suffered through generations.  It is warm and inviting and handles traffic easily.   The cats, dogs, and human traffic only add to the patina.

The dark color compliments the clary sage walls and lighter timber.   The contrast is stunning and grounds each room.  With rugs (chosen with Pam’s input) defining the different living spaces, this flooring is never overlooked.

While we opted for tile in the bathrooms and mudroom, this warm flooring is used throughout the rest of our home.   It works well even in the kitchen, where spills don’t cause concern.

In using utility grade material (the stuff that didn’t meet the grade for “real” flooring), we feel that we made a step in the sustainable direction.  These trees didn’t die in vain.  Finished with water based stains and polyurethane, the floor offer a non-toxic alternative to many of the products available on the market today.

So, begin thinking about your flooring early on and know all of your options. Go with the floor that will compliment your home and your lifestyle.  There is something out there for everyone and your wood floor should last for a long, long time.  Why “wood” you use anything else?

For some other ideas on designing and building your timber frame home, check out Timber Frame Magazine .

See you soon.

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Spring is Upon our Timber Frame

April 23, 2010

Spring has sprung.  Well, almost.  There was frost on Thursday morning (April 22), but the flowering cherry tree says it’s Spring as it smiles on the new timber frame home it didn’t get to greet last year.

Timber frames work easily with Spring weather.  Windows come open and sunshine fills the space.  The timbers stand proud and strong and welcome the fresh air. We open the windows during the warm days and close them as evening nears, saving the warmth in our well insulated home.  Heat hasn’t been on in several weeks even though some nights have been near or below freezing and we’ve had frost several times.

We are looking forward to having our windows open and a fresh breeze at night, breezes to bring us dreams of faraway places and wondrous things. Those days will be here soon enough.

Now, the planting has begun.  Garden, flower beds, cleaning up the winter debris…there are plenty of tasks for every day.  I do see how folks worked from sunup until sundown without ever going to town.

But, I need to head to the office, leaving behind this bloom-covered tree and my sheltering timber frame.

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In a Timber Frame the Living is Easy

March 10, 2010

Spring is approaching and our timber frame is ready for the new season.  The light filtering in through the windows is changing from that winter clear to a spring dazzle.  The timber frame is highlighted by the sunbeams and with the time changing next week, the sunny evenings will seem longer.

Our timber frame porches have waited patiently for these days.  They’ll be washed and swept and the rockers and porch swing will get lots of use.  Coffee will be sipped on the side porch as we watch the birds come to the pond for a drink and the fish break water.

Your timber frame should “grow” in the warm months.  Timber frames are a natural when it comes to outdoor living space.   They offer the same charm and stability that you have inside and comfortably frame your views and access to the outdoors.

We’ll have photos of the yard work in progress soon.  David is having shoulder trouble (a timely ailment, huh?), but we’ll get it done and our new timber frame home, resting comfortably on the space that was occupied by our old, worn home, will settle into the timeless setting.

So, after a long, wet, and white winter we are ready for daffodils, grass, birds, and buds…all viewed through open windows and in fresh air.

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Green Was Easy with This Timber Frame

February 4, 2010

You know, I think we are all trying a little to hard to make “green building” work.  Today’s building technology, coupled with the age old craft of timber framing, makes being “green” easy.  Timber Frames just lend themselves to being green.

David and I had many of the elements of our timber frame home planned long before we broke ground.  We even designed our green home around some of the “stuff” we loved.

Saving two bath sinks, a great clawfoot bathtub, and an amazing farm sink from the landfill was a beginning.  Reclaiming the tin roof from a chicken house teardown was easy.

Doors…do they really wear out?  We don’t think so.  All the doors in our home, with the exception of one, had earlier lives in homes between 1850 and 1940.  Hinged doors easily became pocket doors and they are charming!

Wood, chestnut and oak, salvaged from teardowns on our property made beautiful cabinetry.  You don’t even have to distress them…it’s there.

Windows can be problematic.  You don’t want to sacrifice the energy efficiency of new windows by reusing old sash windows.  One made a great door for the vanity in the guest bedroom.

Timber frames lend themselves to mirrors with character.  We have old mirrors scattered throughout the house.

So, before you bust the budget and trash the landfill, think a little bit about what you love and how it could be incorporated into your new timber framed home.  We did and we are so pleased.

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Our Timber Frame’s First Snow

December 19, 2009

Snow settled into the mountains of Western North Carolina on Friday and on our new timber frame home.  Timber frames just seem to accept the snow as a given, still providing comfortable shelter and a serene presence.

While designing our timber frame, one of the items that was important was a Timber Frame View From the Officesmall home office, not isolated, but comfortable enough for me and my sidekick (also known as my laptop).  I wanted light…natural daylight.. and I didn’t want to feel closed off.  Well, it happened and this snowy day made me realize just how important it was.

We had about six inches of snow and with our heat set at 63, never felt a chill.  The double paned, argon gas, low e (and whatever else was included) in our Jeldwen Windows paid off.  The Thermocore insulated panels kept the heat in and the cold out.  That’s the way it’s supposed to work, right?

As the day closed, I sent David out into the snow to catch a couple of photos of the timber frame with snow on itTimber Frames First Snow (I grew up in far west Texas and snow wasn’t in our picture).  He’d already been to the barn and even driven me to town (where the grocery store was without power and closing for the day), so this wasn’t a big imposition.

So, our timber frame proved itself once more, sheltering and warm, we are pleased to live in a timber frame and to be a part of helping others do the same.

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The Sounds of a Timber Frame

December 2, 2009

A timber frame “speaks” to the owners.  With stick framed houses you often hear noises as the house settles, particularly at night as the air cools off.

In a timber frame, the timbers will sound off, often as the seasons change, and you are either heating (drying out the air) or cooling (adding moisture to the air).

While I’ve heard tales of pops that sound like a shotgun going off, our house seems to speak softly in the night.  These sounds aren’t loud and disruptive or scary, just a gentle mention that this timber frame is built with wood, a natural product that breathes even after it is cut from the earth.   Since timbers are left in much their natural state (well, squared off and joined, but not cut down to sticks), I like to think of these sounds as the sounds of the forest…brought to live indoors and domesticated.

So expect your home to speak and to when it does, smile and remember that you’ve connected with nature in a most wonderful way.

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Timber Frames and Structural Insulated Panels

November 18, 2009

I suppose that everyone gets much of this, but I can’t emphasize enough how important a tight, well insulated shell is to your timber frame home.  Even with temperatures dropping below freezing and “frost on the pumpkin”, our heat is seldom on and never comes on during the night.

SIPS (structural insulated panels) provide an enclosure for timber frames that, in my humble opinion, can’t be beat.  They enclose the frame quickly and efficiently and provide long term benefits.  What more can we ask for?

Our timber frame is enclosed with urethane panels.  Over the years Goshen has tried other panels and enclosure methods and we keep coming back to these panels.  Our experience with them and our research into the different products have made us believers in their durability, sustainability, and performance.

The walls around our new home are sound.  Our small home truly shelters us from the weather.

While our home is almost a full timber frame, our mudroom Structural Insulated Panels in Hybrid Timber Frame Homeis built with panels and offers the same comfort and efficiency as the rest of the enclosure. We design and build many hybrid homes with timber framing in the living areas and panelized construction for the rest of the home.  A great compromise without sacrifice (well…not much sacrifice).

So, we’ll continue to enjoy our new home and to embrace energy efficient, beautiful buildings as the only way to build.

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Designing Efficient Timber Frames

November 13, 2009

When home plans are discussed, we tend to talk about floor plans, elevations, sections, details, and foundations.  We need to make “efficiency” one of those key elements.

Your timber frame home should be efficient in every manner.  It should, of course, be energy efficient.  It should be space efficient.  It should make efficient use of materials.  This list can go on and on, with efficient being the key word.

Of course, designing only the amount of space you use is the first step.  While we’d all like to have unlimited room to roam and to escape, be realistic.   Think through the way you live as you design your new timber frame.  Timber Frame

Don’t build too small and then necessitate remodeling in a few years…but don’t build rooms that no one will ever occupy (maybe Aunt Sue will come to visit someday, but if you are building that room just for her and she’s never left her hometown, then maybe you can better utilize that money and rent her a nice room at the local B&B if she arrives).  Don’t build just to keep up with the Joneses or Browns.    They will be spending money to maintain those rooms when you can be spending yours to travel.

If there are two of you for eleven and three quarter months of the year, do you need three more bedrooms and three more baths for the two weeks you have company?

A timber frame does give you the flexibility to move walls without major engineering. This means you can enclose or open up rooms as your life and lifestyle changes.

Efficient use of materials is important.  Plan your home wisely, using products that are sourced locally or regionally whenever possible.  Don’t put in cabinets that you know you really don’t like…planning on installing better ones in a few years.  Buy the best you can afford and live with it.  Hardwood and tile should be a “forever” product, so chose carefully.

Energy efficiency, of course is such an important part of building.  A timber frame, wrapped in energy efficient insulated panels is an excellent choice.  The panels provide a tight, well insulated shell and will be far more efficient than any form of conventional framing.

Our new home is so comfortable.  It is small (smaller than some would like and larger than some might want), but just right for us.  We used many salvaged materials in our home (not for everyone, but something we love) and it is wrapped in panels, providing shelter from cold and heat.

Building efficiently will reward you for years to come.  Small steps will make a big difference.

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